Cellini jury recesses

Stutter-step deliberations suspended till November

October 29, 2011

The federal jury weighing the fate of Springfield power broker William Cellini recessed Friday for a long weekend after a second day of deliberations.

The 10-woman, two-man jury is scheduled to resume deliberations Tuesday morning in the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago. U.S. District Judge James Zagel, who is presiding over the trial, said he has to attend a conference Monday.

The jury started deliberations Wednesday, but a juror was excused the next day for an unexplained conflict of interest. An alternate was added to the jury, and the judge instructed them to start the deliberations anew.

Cellini, 76, who has held influence for decades in the state capital, is on trial on charges he conspired to extort a campaign contribution from a Hollywood producer in 2004 in order to keep his power at a state teacher pension board during then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich's tenure.